Fatalities at East Boldre Airfield, also known as RFC Beaulieu and later as RAF Beaulieu, during WW1
A variety of sources report the names of forty-one airmen who died in flying accidents at East Boldre and another who drowned while swimming in Hatchet Pond. Nineteen of these are buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard.
On Saturday 26 January 1918, Sapper W Reginald Steel, the airfield’s surveyor and draughtsman, wrote in his diary, “4 airmen killed here to-day making a total of seven this week, poor beggars”. Only two of the airmen listed below died during this week, suggesting the names of five airmen killed at East Boldre are yet to be discovered. This brings the number of fatalities at East Boldre to at least forty-six.
Do you have images of any these airmen? If so, please contact web.manager@eastboldre.org.
Full details, with images of the airmen and the crashed aircraft where available, can be found at http://www.eastboldre.org/flyingschoolfatalities.html and in ‘From Forest Field to Western Front’ (see http://www.eastboldre.org/books.html)
Wesley Alexander Archibald
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant 760337 – Canadian
Died 8th November 1918, age 24, when his engine caught fire on take-off.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Douglas Walter Baker
Royal Air Force – Flight Cadet – British
Died 26th October 1918, age 21, when his Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin spun into the ground from 500 feet.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Fred Bauer
USA Air Service – American
Died on 1st or 2nd June 1918.
He was initially buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre but was exhumed and reburied elsewhere, presumably in the USA.
Toné Hyppolyte Paul Bayetto a.k.a. “Mad Jack”
Royal Air Force – Captain – British
Died on 28th July 1918 when the wings of his Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin folded during an air display.
Arthur Fred Belyea
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – Canadian
Died 17th September 1918, age 23 when his Sopwith F1 Camel collided with fellow pupil, Austin Blackie (see below). They possibly arranged to fly in formation and photograph each other.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Austin Wyard Blackie
Royal Air Force – Lieutenant – Canadian
Died 17th September 1918, age 22 when his Sopwith F1 Camel collided with fellow pupil, Arthur Fred Belyea (see above).
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Victor Charles Edelsten Bracey
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – British
Died 23rd September 1917, age 19 when the new SPAD VII he was testing, crashed.
He is buried in St. Mary’s Churchyard in Wedmore.
Robert Ray Brown
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – Canadian
Died 18th June 1918, age 24 when his Sopwith Camel B7376 crashed into the Solent.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Henry Elliott Byers
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – Irish
Died 12th November 1916, age 22. Casualty card states; Nature and cause of accident “appeared to be out of control at 3000 ft and nosedived”.
He is buried in the Grangegorman Military Cemetery.
Sidney Foley Case
RAF – Second Lieutenant – British
Died 28th August 1918, age 18, when his Sopwith Camel, F4180, dived into ground “due to bump or error of judgement”.
He is buried in Dudley Borough Cemetery, Worcestershire.
Charles Dudley Chapman
RFC – Second Lieutenant – British
Died 19th January 1818, age 24, when his Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin, C3800, crashed near Ringwood. After his fuselage caught fire in mid-air, he glided down and turned at 200 feet but nosedived to the ground, either because the aircraft stalled or because his elevators were burnt away.
He is buried in Brockley cemetery, where his name is recorded on the screen wall listing those whose graves have no headstone.
Rochford Richard Connor
Corporal 29805, 70th Training Squadron – British
Died 30th January 1918, age 37, when his Avro 504J, B3247, hit the roof of a coal hut and overturned during a forced landing after his engine failed. His passenger, 25-year-old, 2nd Lieutenant Cecil Affleck Herbert Aspinall was injured in the accident.
He is buried in Streatham Cemetery.
James Leslie Cumming
Royal Flying Corps – Second Lieutenant – Scottish
Died 24th March 1918, age 19. He was flying a dual control training aircraft with his student, Cadet George Johnstone near Winchester, when the aircraft nosedived to the ground. He died before reaching Winchester Hospital and his pupil died shortly after.
He is buried in Arbroath Eastern Cemetery.
Foster Davidson
RAF – Second Lieutenant
Died 30th August 1918. Foster Davidson and his instructor, 20-year-old 2nd Lieutenant Vernon Monroe Kidd, were both killed when their dual seat Avro 504J, C5759 crashed near Bucklers Hard during an attempted forced landing after their engine cut out on a training flight. Vernon Kidd was killed in the crash and Foster Davidson was severely injured and died a short while later.
Richard Gordon Eastwood
Cadet Sergeant 110027 – British
Died 8th October 1918, age 18, when his Sopwith F1 Camel, F2207, started to spin with insufficient height to recover, after he attempted a roll.
Richard is buried in Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds.
Ernest Lawton Hargrave
Royal Flying Corps – Lieutenant – British
Died 22nd September 1917, age 18, when his dual control Avro 504 stalled and dived to the ground. His instructor, Lt. W F Dry, survived the crash. He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Patrick Jack Hogan
Royal Air Force – 9315 Sergeant
Died 4th August 1918, age 21. He was flying an Avro 504K when he collided with another aircraft.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
George Robinson Johnstone
Australian Flying Corps – Cadet – Australian
Died 24th March 1918, age 22. He was flying as a pupil in a dual control training aircraft with his instructor, 2Lt. James Cumming, near Winchester, when the aircraft crashed. He died shortly after admission to Winchester Hospital and his instructor was declared dead on arrival. Both had fractured skulls.
George is buried at Winchester (West Hill) Old Cemetery.
Vernon Monroe Kidd
Royals Air Force – Second Lieutenant – American
Died 30th August 1918, age 20. He and his pupil were killed during a training flight in an Avro 504, C5759, near Bucklers Hard. Kidd was killed in the crash and his student, Foster Davidson, was severely injured and died a short while later.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
John Lawson Kinnear
Royal Air Force – Major, Liverpool Regiment, DSO. MC. – British
Died 28th April 1918, age 28, during a display of stunt flying. A large crowd saw the 28-year-old Major doing rolls, loops and spins when one set of wings of his Sopwith Scout became detached. He spun to the ground, switching off his engine just before impact.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Aladdin Richard de Lay
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – British
Died 23rd July 1918, age 25. While waiting to move to France, Aladdin was killed when his Sopwith F1 Camel crashed.
He is buried in St. John’s Crematorium, Woking.
Roy Lindsay
Royal Air Force – Flight Cadet – Canadian
Died 6th January 1919, age 26. Roy was attached to the 3rd Training Reserve Depot Station at Salisbury. He came to East Boldre to collect an aircraft and fly it back to Salisbury but the aircraft crashed shortly after take-off.
He is buried in Andover Cemetery, Hampshire.
Frederick Richard Lucas
Second Lieutenant – No. 16 Reserve Squadron
Died 20th October 1916 age 18, when his Curtiss JN3, A3831, crashed on a cross-country flight at Rustington, (near Littlehampton) Sussex. The Court of enquiry concluded, “Accident due to some cause unknown”.
He is buried in the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium, Manor Park.
John Lindsay Morrison
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – Canadian
Died 31st July 1918, age 24, when his Sopwith Camel crashed. An inquiry concluded the accident was caused by an error of judgement.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Walter Stead Pawson
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – Scottish
Died 6th May 1918, age 22, when his Avro 504 aircraft nosedived to the ground. The cause of the accident was attributed to pilot error.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Edward William Wise Rebbeck
Second Lieutenant – 16 Reserve Squadron, Royal Flying Corps – British
Died 24th April 1916, age 19, when his 80 hp BE2c, 4511, crashed. The Court of Enquiry found that he, “Left Bournemouth in a somewhat exhausted condition. Turned downwind at too low an altitude trying to turn steeply into wind. Side slipped. Nosedived into ground. All controls in order”.
He is buried in Bournemouth (Wimborne Road) Cemetery.
Frank Rice Reid
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – Canadian
Died 30th September 1918, age 20, while flying Sopwith F1 Camel, F1359. He started a half roll too near to the ground and failed to pull up.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Peter Rylands
Flying Instructor, RAF – Lieutenant 9924 – British
Died 9 August 1918, age 18, when he crashed into the Solent while shooting at a floating target.
He is buried at Langton Matravers Church Cemetery.
Richard Shaw-Wood
Royal Flying Corps – Second Lieutenant – Canadian
Died 17th March 1918 on a training flight when his Sopwith F1 Camel crashed.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre. His headstone bears the name R. S. Woods.
Fletcher Smith
RFC – Lieutenant – British
Died 28th July 1916. Fletcher drowned while bathing in Hatchet Pond. One report suggests he became exhausted while swimming.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Church Cemetery, Nottingham.
Alexander Talbot
Royal Air Force – Lieutenant – Canadian
Died 3rd June 1918, age 22, when the engine of his Sopwith F1 Camel stalled and he spun into the ground.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Ion Mordaunt Tatham
Royal Flying Corps – Second Lieutenant – South African
Died 11th July 1917, age 19. He was a pupil in a twin seater de Havilland DH6, which crashed at East Boldre. Both he and his instructor, Henry Edward van Goetham were killed. The Court of Inquiry recorded the aircraft caught fire in the air causing it to crash.
Ion is buried in the ANZAC War Cemetery in Brockenhurst.
Arthur Rowland Taylor
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – British
Died 19th January 1918, age 22 when the Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin he was flying crashed and burst into flames shortly after take-off.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre. His gravestone records his rank as Lieutenant and his age at death, 21.
John Dobson Thomas
Royal Flying Corps – Second Lieutenant – American
Died 20th March 1918, age 37, when his Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin crashed after failing to pull out of a dive while stunt flying.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Percy Thomas
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – British
Died 6th February 1919, age 22, when his aircraft nosedived from a height of about fifty feet.
He is buried in Sancreed Churchyard near Penzance in Cornwall.
C R Tolley
Royal Air Force – Lieutenant – British
Died 1919 when he crashed whilst flying at 50 feet above the aerodrome at East Boldre.
Edward Percival Augustus Topley
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – British
Died 30th October 1918, age 18. He died on his first day of training when his Sopwith Camel stalled and span to the ground.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
E H Wadsworth
Second Lieutenant – Royal Flying Corps 16 Reserve Squadron – British
Died 12th March 1917 when his Curtis JN3/4, A5496, entered a spinning nose dive from 800 feet after banking steeply. His passenger, Second Lieutenant, JR Taylor, was injured in the accident.
He is buried in Buttershaw (St. Paul) Churchyard.
Reginald Arthur Bakewell Warrilow
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – British
Died 13th January 1919, age 24, when his aircraft entered a spin from which he could not recover.
He is buried in Chippenham (St. Paul) Churchyard.
Joseph C Wood
Royal Flying Corps – Second Lieutenant
Contradictory reports give his nationality as either British or Canadian.
Died 13th January 1918.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Malcolm G Van de Water
Royal Air Force – Second Lieutenant – American
Died 26th October 1918, age 24. He was flying a Sopwith Camel when a blade of his propeller was shot off by his own gun causing the aircraft to crash. He died later that day in the Forest Park New Zealand General Hospital in Brockenhurst.
He is buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, East Boldre.
Henry Edward van Goethem
Royal Flying Corps – Captain – Belgian
Died 11th July 1917, age 23. Henry and his pupil, Ion Mordaunt Tatham were flying a twin-seater de Havilland DH6, which crashed at East Boldre. Both men were killed. The Court of Inquiry recorded the aircraft caught fire in the air causing it to crash.
He is buried in Parkstone Cemetery, Poole.